Indiscreet

The final album from Sparks’s UK glam rock run was also its most ambitious; the Maels and their backing band having decisively nailed down an exuberant songwriting and performing approach, they along with producer Tony Visconti took everything to new heights in terms of variable arrangements and looking beyond the basic rock band approach. The jazz-pop kick of “Looks Looks Looks” and the rollicking marching-band accompanied “Get In the Swing,” not to mention “Under the Table With Her,” with a fragile vocal from Russell Mael almost sounding like a literal elf, show the results.